UPDATE 2, Oct. 8, 6:28 p.m. ET: Same-sex marriages in Las Vegas were put on hold once again Wednesday due to matters at the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. According to reports, the court is delaying its decision to strike down the Idaho marriage ban and is asking whether it should do the same in Nevada. While the court determines this, Nevada will not be issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
UPDATE, Oct. 8, 3:40 p.m. ET: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy lifted the stay on the same-sex marriage ruling for Nevada, allowing gay couples to marry there shortly. Same-sex marriages in Idaho remain on hold.
Our original story appears below.
Same-sex couples will not be able to get married in Nevada or Idaho as planned on Wednesday, after the Supreme Court temporarily blocked a ruling that legalized gay marriage in both states.
One day prior, on Tuesday, a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco struck down bans on gay marriage in Nevada and Idaho. But Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy blocked the gay marriage ruling about an hour after Idaho filed an emergency request for an immediate stay on Wednesday. His order came a little more than an hour after Idaho filed an emergency request for an immediate stay and about 10 minutes before the state said that state and county officials would otherwise have been required to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
[seealso slug="whats-next-same-sex-marriage"]
Clark County, the county Las Vegas falls under, had planned to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples starting at 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday. However, via its official Twitter account, the county announced that issuance of the licenses is now on hold.
Issuance of #marriagelicenses to same-sex couples on hold due to order from @USSupremeCourt #Vegas— Clark County Nevada (@ClarkCountyNV) October 8, 2014
Las Vegas had been preparing for the big day with marriage licenses that were already gender-neutral, chapel photographers practicing shooting two brides wearing white gowns, and ordained Elvises preparing to officiate.
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
Post by Visit Las Vegas.
According to reports, the stay may not last long, as Kennedy's order requested a response from plaintiffs in the Idaho lawsuit by the end of the day Thursday.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press